The Island
by less-hebraic-more-fabrayic
Summary: A newspaper advertises for 'test subjects' to be sent to an isolated island, cut off from society and technology for six weeks, as part of an experiment. Rachel signs the Glee club up for it.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **The Island (1/?)  
**Author: **less-hebraic-more-fabrayic  
**Rating: **T (I haven't decided what's happening with smut or not yet, so..)  
**Pairing: **Rachel/Quinn  
**Word Count:** 4479  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee or any of the characters within it. I did a little research on islands but decided to go with a fictional name and location.  
**Summary: **(SLIGHTLY AU) A newspaper advertises for 'test subjects' to be sent to an isolated island, cut off from society and technology for six weeks, as part of an experiment. Rachel signs the Glee club up for it.  
**Notes: **First chapter! I'm so nervous about this. I've had it swimming in my head for a while but I couldn't peg it perfectly, so this could be a little messy. Reviews, ideas and sharing is always appreciated!

Rachel Berry sat at the kitchen table, lazily spooning cereal into her mouth and reading the morning's newspaper. Her fathers, Leroy and Hiram, were on the other side of the kitchen, spreading butter over toast and stirring cups of coffee. It was 6:30am on a Friday morning, the usual time the Berry family would have their breakfast, like any other day. Except something different was about to happen.

"Anything good in there, baby girl?" Leroy asked, sitting in the next available chair to Rachel and sipping his coffee from his _Number #1 Daddy!_ Cup.

"Not much," Rachel replied, yawning. "Can I have some of that?" She gestured to his plate of toast. She picked up a piece and bit into it, wincing. "Daddy, you always put way too much butter on." She handed him the toast back with it's bite-sized gap in it.

"Perfect toast for my perfect girl," Hiram said in a singsong voice, dropping a plate in front of her and taking the empty cereal bowl.

"Thanks, Dad." She said between bites of toast. She looked down to scan the paper again.

Growing bored of the article about health and safety regulations in the food service industry, Rachel flipped the page and started to read the advertisements. Anybody she knew would say it was a boring thing to read, but her Dad and Daddy had always taught her never to skip over an opportunity.

It was the usual stuff for the first three quarters of the page_ Cheap Computer Repairs, Call Now! Looking To Sell Mountain Bike! Lost Cat! _And then she saw it. _Science Organisation Looking For Six Test Subjects, See Below._

Her gaze travelled south of the page until she found an asterisk and a paragraph of writing.

"_SEYP have created an experiment wherein six willing young people will spend six weeks on Serendipity Island, an isolated environment which is the closest thing possible to paradise. While on the island, the test subjects will have no contact with the outside world and no technology. They will be completely alone until the departure boat comes at the end of the six weeks. Think you can do it? Sign yourself and five others up!"_

Rachel read it three more times, unblinking, until her concerned-looking Dads roused her.

"Rach, baby? What is it?"

"It's.. This article for a science experiment thing. Here, read it."

She passed the newspaper to her Dads and waited until they'd read it a few times themselves.

"What are you trying to say, Rachel?" Hiram asked, looking puzzled. "Do you want to sign up?"

"I'm not sure." Rachel said, shrugging. "I should ask the Glee club first."

"I don't know how I feel about this." Leroy said, staring at the article. "A whole six weeks without technology or contact? How do we know this is safe?"

"We could always call them up ourselves, Lee." Hiram said. "They left a number."

Leroy still looked unsure, and he turned to Rachel. "Go and get ready for school, honey. It's the last day of the year, enjoy yourself."

Rachel nodded, excusing herself from the table and rushing upstairs. She'd need her best argyle for this.

–

"Oh, look. Man Hands decided to join us. Why don't you grace us with an excuse as to why you, the 'star member' are ten minutes late?"

"Quiet, Santana." Mr. Schue warned, putting his dry-erase pen back in his pocket. The title on the board was "New Experiences", and Rachel took her seat in the centre chair on the front row.

Mr. Schuester launched off into an over-anticipated speech about life and choices, ignoring the fact that everybody was ignoring _him_. Santana and Brittany were too wrapped up in each other to notice anybody else, as per usual, Kurt and Blaine were comparing bow ties, Finn was staring/gaping openly at Rachel, Puck was asleep, and everybody else was texting.

"Mr. Schuester, if I may?" Rachel said, standing up and taking centre stage before he'd said yes or no. "As Mr. Schue was saying, new experiences are great. And we have an amazing opportunity to get a whole lot of new experiences this summer!"

"What the hell is she babbling on about?" Santana asked.

Rachel ignored her remark, collecting a stack of six freshly-printed brochures from under her seat and handing them to everybody. "Serendipity Island," she said, walking back to the middle of the room while everybody looked at their leaflets. "A deserted location where a group of scientists are holding an experiment. If you would please turn to the first page," she turned the page in her own leaflet.

"In case any of you are a little confused as to what the brochure is telling you," she glanced towards Brittany and Finn. "It's a free holiday -" Puck cheered. "_But_, it has strings attached. Kind of. Well, for the six weeks the test subjects are there, they will have no technology or contact with the outside world."

The entire room, even Mr. Schuester, put up some kind of screaming debate with devastating looks on their faces.

"I can't go without my droid!" Mercedes yelled.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Then you won't be considered for the trip, Mercedes." She turned back to the room. "I was hoping that at least five or more of you would be interested. It isn't some kind of abandoned mud hut place. It has cabins to sleep in, two to a room, there's swimming pools as well as, you know, the ocean. It's really lovely, you can see the pictures in the brochures."

After a couple of minutes debating, Mr. Schuester agreed to put names in a hat and pick five out. Not everybody was too happy about it, but all of them did agree a free holiday wouldn't be that bad. Even if, Santana said, "I did have to put up with Berry for those six weeks. I mean, I could always drown her in the dead of night."

Mr. Schue pulled a top hat from a cupboard and emptied the scrawled-down names into there, shuffling them around. Rachel sat on the piano and thought she heard Brittany whisper something to Santana about ducks and hats.

"Holiday lottery winner number one," Mr. Schue announced, pulling open the slip of paper. "Finn Hudson."

Finn's face broke out in a grin and he ran down the steps of the choir room to join Rachel. They were still off and on with their relationship and he put a tentative arm around her.

"Number two, Mr. Sam Evans." Sam ran down to join them. "Three, Brittany Pierce."

Brittany cheered loudly and Santana looked as if she could destroy the entire building with her bare hands when Mr. Schue shouted, "Number four! Santana Lopez." Her face relaxed into a calm grin and she joined the group at the front.

"Last but certainly not least, Rachel, do the honours?" He held the hat out to her and she closed her eyes, pulling out a slip of paper from the bottom.

"Quinn Fabray." She said. The room fell silent for a moment, the remaining people in seats turned to face Quinn who was reading a book at the back. Even Santana held her tongue. After another ten seconds of pin-dropping silence, Quinn got up calmly and walked to join the group.

"Can everybody stop staring, please? I don't have some sort of disease," Quinn said, quietly.

Immediately, everybody made small talk with one another. The final bell to signal the end of the year rang out, and they were dismissed by Mr. Schuester. Rachel remembered the final detail of their trip, and she tried to get the group's attention.

Quinn rolled her eyes and put a hand on Rachel's arm. "I'll get this," she muttered.

She put on her head bitch voice, "GUYS! Rachel is talking! Stop being so fucking rude, okay? Carry on, Rach."

Rachel was stunned and paralysed for a few moments before she came back to life, barely noting Quinn's hand still on her shoulder.

"I, um.. I.. Oh, Sunday! Yeah, Sunday, that was it. We leave on Sunday. Plane tickets are already booked, and the times are in the brochure, but be at Lima Airport for 8am on Sunday. And no mobile phones!"

Everybody shuffled out of the room, five of them talking about the holiday. Santana was talking to Brittany about bikinis, Sam and Finn were discussing the best way to win Rachel and Quinn back, and Quinn was walking out of the room, throwing smiling glances back at Rachel.

How strange.

–

Sunday morning in Lima was beautiful, truly. The kind of sunshine that made Rachel feel like Gina Rene's 'What If' should have been playing in the background. And what was even more stunning was the fact the sun was even out at 6am.

She was all packed up and ready to go to the airport at 7:30am, having sent out a mass text to everybody going on the trip to make sure they were all awake and ready to go. She'd made sure to type out the last line of the text in all caps, saying, NO PHONES!

Leroy and Hiram dropped her at the airport, giving her tearful goodbyes and being overly emotional. She eventually had to give them some sort of intervention. "Dad, Daddy, even I'm not that dramatic. It's just six weeks."

"With no contact! Six weeks with no contact!"

"Leroy, come on," Hiram pleaded. "She'll be okay. We love you, honey."

"Enjoy yourself." Leroy eventually choked out.

Rachel wheeled her two suitcases (which were covered in golden stars) all the way to the airport's check in desk. She handed the tickets over.

"There's only one of you," the lady behind the desk noted, slowly, looking at Rachel.

A voice spoke from behind Rachel before she had a chance to respond.

"Nice one, afro. You could top Einstein with that."

Rachel turned around. "Santana, please don't start being rude."

"I'll just take your passports..?" The lady said, blushing.

The group appeared behind Santana, grinning and pulling their own suitcases. They handed their passports to Rachel who gave them to the lady.

"Just go right up those escalators, through the barriers and you'll find yourself on the shopping floor. Your flight leaves in approximately two hours and seven minutes. Shop, eat, do whatever you like, but make sure you're at terminal gate seven by the time your flight is boarding. You'll hear that on the speakers or on one of those electrical boards." She smiled and the group shuffled off.

"Is everybody excited?" Rachel asked, grinning and standing in front of the rest of them.

They all looked at each other before answering in one big, overenthusiastic, "Oh, yeah! Of course we are."

She ignored the glances between them and continued walking, leading them to the desk where they gave in their suitcases.

"What? I thought we could take these on the plane.. How am I gonna play board games with Sam?" Finn asked, looking confused.

"Put it in your hand luggage, Finn," Rachel said.

"I'm glad you convinced me not to bring Lord Tubbington," Brittany whispered to Santana. "I didn't know he wouldn't be allowed to run around on the plane."

The group continued up the escalators they were pointed to, and Quinn, who had been quiet since the group met up, pointed at a restaurant.

"Can we eat in there? I'm _starving_,"

"Yeah, like you need to put any more weight on, baby mama."

"Santana, that was two years ago. I haven't eaten anything today, sue me."

"Okay, okay. Let's get some breakfast."

"But, Rachel, I thought we were gonna eat in Burger King." Finn said, frowning.

"Shut it, Finnept. Just because you don't mind looking like the Burger King himself doesn't mean we all want to -"

"Santana!"

"What, dwarf?"

"Let's get breakfast."

Rachel could feel a migraine coming on, in all honesty. She led the group into the restaurant and found them a table. It was quiet in there, and decked out like a 1950s diner. Black and white tiled floor, motorbike seats at the milkshake bar and jukeboxes in every corner of the room.

"Would you like to order?" A waitress asked.

"Not until I see Elvis perform." Brittany stated. The group laughed quietly.

"Yes, we'd like to order," Quinn smiled at the waitress.

Before anybody else could snatch the only menu from each other, Rachel yanked it from Finn and spoke loudly over the group.

"We'd like one giant stack of pancakes with golden syrup and chocolate chips. Side order of mini waffles. For drinks, Sam, Brittany and Finn will have a hot chocolate with cream and sprinkles. Santana will have an apple juice and myself and Quinn will have cappuccinos." She turned to the table. "Is that okay with everybody?"

They all nodded, dumbfounded. "Then, that will be all, thank you." Rachel said, giving the waitress the menu.

"Damn, Berry." Santana said, nodding. "You're good."

The conversations eventually turned into excitement.

"We should talk about what we're gonna do when we get there," Sam said, grinning.

"TAN!" Santana shouted.

"Will they have food there?" Finn asked.

"Yes," Rachel answered. "More than enough food to last us the entire time, don't worry."

"I wanna find animals." Brittany announced. Santana kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm gonna swim in the sea. Snorkelling. And I'll go dive down really deep to find fish."

"You mean your long lost relatives?" Santana asked.

"I'm looking forward to taking lots of photographs." Quinn said.

"Oh, me too!" Santana said. "I'm glad they let us bring cameras."

"Are cameras not technopology?" Brittany asked.

"Tech_nology_, Britt," Santana corrected her gently. "They are, but we can't contact home on them, so we can bring them."

"I'm looking forward to making amends." Rachel said.

Quinn looked up at her from across the table.

"How so?" She asked.

"I know many of you don't like me," she started. "But I'd think considering I got you all this holiday and we're spending six weeks together.. We could at least be nice for that period of time."

Everybody smiled.

"To Serendippy Island," Brittany said, holding her hand flat on the table.

"To Serendippy Island!" Everybody shouted, putting their hands over hers without even bothering to correct her.

–

After breakfast, which took a full thirty minutes to recover from, they followed Santana and Quinn to the shops.

"I need more shades," Santana announced, diving across the room to pick up a pair from a shelf.

"You have nine.." Sam said.

"Yeah, so? Now I'll have ten." Santana shrugged, turning to look at the perfumes.

"You're probably better off waiting until we're on the plane for that, San," Quinn advised. "Duty free."

Finn and Brittany were on the opposite side of the store trying on Mexican hats, while Rachel stood and looked at the books quietly. She'd assumed she was very much alone until a familiar voice came up behind her, placing a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Hi, Rachel."

"Hey, Sam," she greeted him, turning around. He opened his arms and she hugged him.

"Thank you for getting us this holiday, Rachel," he said, smiling his silly lopsided grin.

"It's no problem, Sam. I think all of us really needed a break."

"Do they have comics here?" He asked, pointing at the formal-looking bookcase Rachel was inspecting.

"Oh, no, they're in the magazines."

"Oh," Sam said, turning to leave and find that isle.

Rachel watched him go, smiling, and sat down on the floor to inspect the bottom row of the bookshelves.

"Whatcha doin'?" A soft voice asked.

Rachel whipped around, almost hitting her head on the second shelf. "Ah!"

"Watch it, Rach. You'll hurt yourself." Quinn smiled, sitting down beside her. "Find anything interesting?"

"Not really," she sighed. "I've read most of these. I just need a good holiday novel.. Or two."

"I know what you can read," Quinn said, standing up on her tip toes and reading the topmost shelf. "Here."

"Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There?" Rachel asked, reading off the book's cover.

"Yeah. It's two books in one, they're my favourite thing in the world to read."

"Thanks, Quinn. I think I'll get this. What are you reading?"

"I can't find anything."

"I have the perfect book for you!" Rachel said, jumping up and narrowly avoiding hitting her head again. "Here," she handed a book to Quinn.

"Great Expectations..?" Quinn asked. "I've never read it."

"It's _so_ good," Rachel exclaimed. "Enjoy it."

They sat there for what must have been a full ten seconds before Santana said, "Uh, what did I interrupt?"

"Nothing!" They both shouted. They got up and walked over to the counter to pay.

–

"Can the six test subjects flying out to Serendipity Island please make their way to terminal gate seven in the next five minutes. That's the six test subjects flying out to Serendipity Island, terminal gate seven, five minutes. Thank you."

The voice from the speakers in the airport rang out and the group started walking quickly to terminal gate seven, following the direction of the signs on the walls. They walked through the terminal and found themselves in a long, white hall with glass window walls.

"Why are we going in a mini plane?" Brittany asked.

The group followed her eyes to the glass window wall, and noticed that they were, in fact, going in a tiny, private plane.

Before any of them had a chance to voice their opinions, a male voice spoke out.

"I take it you're our test subjects, then."

He had a strong, British accent, curly brown hair and brown eyes.

The group nodded at him, and he scribbled something on his clipboard.

He was dressed head to toe in typical scientist gear. Lab coat, hideous shoes and sensible trousers.

"Well, I'm Doctor Radcliffe and myself and Professor Valen, who can't be here today, were the people who organized this whole experiment." He smiled formally and shook each of their hands.

"I hope you enjoy the experience, and you," he pointed at Rachel. "Must be Miss Berry. You signed your friends up for this, I believe?"

"Yes, I did."

"Well, thank you very much. Anyway, the island's location is completely secret, which is why you have your own private plane. It's all very.. Hollywood, per say."

Rachel's eyes twinkled.

"Well, you're free to board the plane, now. Just go out of this fire exit, down the stairs and you'll be in the runway. Enjoy."

They all took a moment to look at one another with pure excitement and joy on their faces, before they ran out of the directed door, down the metal stairs and on to the gravelly runway.

They walked up the steps on to the plane, Brittany squeezing Santana's hand tightly.

"It's not scary, Britt," she comforted her.

"The stairs aren't attached to the plane, San! We could fall down!"

The plane was better than Rachel could have hoped. It went way beyond first class, with six perfect leather seats that moved when you pressed buttons on the remote controls. A flat screen television in front of all of the seats, and mini fridges everywhere.

"Holy -"

"Moses -"

"Jesus -"

"Tubbington -"

"Shit -"

"Whoa!"

An attendant closed the plane door behind them and walked to sit in the captain's pit.

"Well..." Rachel said, sitting down in between Finn and Brittany. "What movie should we watch?"

"Um, what?" Finn asked.

"This is the last TV we'll see for almost two months, Finn." Quinn said. "She has a point."

"Let's watch The Devil Wears Prada," Quinn said, pointing at the option on the screen.

Finn and Sam were apprehensive at first.

"It _is_ pretty funny." Santana admitted.

Two hours later, as the end credits of the movie rolled, the attendant came out and announced that they would be landing. Finn had fallen asleep, head lolling on Rachel's shoulder and absurd snoring noises coming from his mouth. Sam was also asleep, next to Finn and beside Quinn who was dozing. Brittany was on the verge of drifting off.

Santana looked disgusted. She lowered her voice. "I don't know how you can stand that.. That giant all over you. I don't even know why you bother with him, like you can't even see what's in front of you."

"Santana, what are you talking about?"

"Shit. You really are clueless, Berry." A hint of a smirk traced her lips. "Never mind. You'll see."

The plane landed, and the attendant came back out.

"Are we at Serendippy Island?" Brittany asked.

"No," the attendant said. "We're at another secret location, near a dock. You'll have to get an overnight boat to the island."

The group climbed down off the plane, yawning.

"What time is it here?" Rachel asked the attendant, who was walking them down a boardwalk where a mini ferry sat."

"It's 6pm here with the time difference," he told her. "Just down there. The people on the boat know who all of you are, and that they can't tell you anything. It's still first class treatment. Enjoy your holiday!"

They climbed on to the ferry and were immediately met with first class treatment_ indeed_. Champagne, music, the same beautiful chairs on plane and the constant calling of 'Sir' and 'Madam'.

All Rachel really wanted to do was climb into bed. And so, at 10pm, she said polite goodbyes to the rest of the tipsy group and made a dizzy walk down the hall to the bedroom with her cases inside.

The way the boat rocked ever so slightly was made worse by all the champagne she'd had, and every time she closed her eyes in the dark bedroom she felt as if it was being thrown around her stomach.

Nightmares were induced by Brittany's earlier comments of, "This is what it was like before the Titanic hit the iceberg" and "Is the ocean making us rock or is it a sea demon?"

When she eventually woke, it was to a migraine and a lot of noise. It was warm in her small cabin, and she stepped out on to the deck wearing nothing but her pyjama shirt and underwear.

The other five were looking out over the morning view, sun blaring and magnificent blue ocean rippling as the boat moved. It was moving a hell of a lot faster than it was the previous evening, and in the blurred distance she could see they were heading towards an island. _Finally._

"Go and put your clothes on, Berry." Santana said, over her shoulder. "We'll be there in ten minutes."

Rachel walked back to her cabin and pulled the nearest bikini she could find from her suitcase. She closed it back up, made the bed (it never hurts to be polite), and pulled a see-through shirt on. In this tiny outfit, she walked back out on to the deck and put her case in the pile with everybody else's.

"Five minutes!" The captain called from his place under the deck.

"Damn, Berry," Santana said, pulling her shades off.

"Yeah," Finn chided in.

She blushed slightly, joining the others looking at the view and watching the previously tiny-looking island coming closer into view. It truly was beautiful. White sand, deep sapphire ocean and amazing-looking cabins.

Rachel had to catch her breath.

After a moment of silence as the boat pulled into the island, everybody raced for their suitcases and sprinted straight through the few feet of shallow water to the sand.

"It's so warm!" Brittany shouted, lying down on the beach.

"Cabins." Sam said. "Who's sleeping where?"

"You're rooming with Finnept, Trouty. Just try and control yourself, we don't want to hear you fucking in the night."

"Santana," Quinn warned.

"Okay, fine. But they're still sharing. I'm sharing with Britt. That leaves Prom Queen and Jewish Princess in that cabin."

Everybody broke off to drag their belongings into their rooms.

Rachel and Quinn's cabin was quiet, aside from the shouts and laughter from the beach outside where the others had already gone outside.

"I guess we're rooming," Rachel said, awkwardly.

"Did you just notice that, or are you trying to make small talk?"

"Small talk."

"You don't need to. I'm going to lie outside and read the book you picked out for me."

"Can I come with you..? I mean, I want to read the Alice books."

"Sure."

Rachel followed Quinn outside, finding a spot where they both laid down and used their books to sheild the sun.

At some point, Rachel must have dozed off. Because when her eyes fluttered open and she removed the cold book from her stomach, the sky was dark and the other five people were having a barbecue over a fire they'd made.

"She's awake," Brittany said, pointing at Rachel. Santana threw her a dressing gown.

"Thanks," Rachel said, yawning. "It's so cold."

"Come by the fire," Finn said, moving over on the log he was sitting on to make room for her.

They had barbecued sausages, burgers and smores until they were all too full to speak.

Moving back into the cabin, Rachel practically collapsed on to her bed. Despite the fact she'd napped from afternoon till evening, she was exhausted.

It wasn't until she heard a quiet sniffling noise that she sat up.

"Quinn?"

Nobody answered, but the sniffling continued.

"Quinn?"

"What?" Came a weak, muffled voice.

"Are you.. Are you crying?" She whispered.

"Maybe."

"What do you have to cry about, Quinn?"

"I don't.. I don't know. I just.. I'm homesick."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Would you like to sleep with me?"

"What?"

"Would you like to come and sleep in my bed?" Rachel elaborated. "Whenever I was sad as a child, my Dads would give me a cup of water and then let me sleep in their bed."

"Oh.. Okay."

Quinn got up and moved across the room, climbing slowly into Rachel's bed and making herself comfortable on the edge.

"Quinn, you can move over if you like. I'm not going to eat you."

Quinn moved closer, adjusting her position around Rachel's.

"I read most of Great Expectations." She said, quietly.

"Oh?" Rachel asked. "Are you enjoying it?"

"Yeah."

"Which is your favourite part? Tell me about it, and maybe you can get some sleep."

"This part," Quinn said, clearing her throat but still speaking in a soft whisper. "I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I love her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection."

Before Rachel could respond, Quinn was fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **The Island (2/?)  
**Author: **less-hebraic-more-fabrayic  
**Rating: **T (I haven't decided what's happening with smut or not yet, so..)  
**Pairing: **Rachel/Quinn  
**Word Count: **4479  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee or any of the characters within it. I did a little research on islands but decided to go with a fictional name and location.  
**Summary: **(SLIGHTLY AU) A newspaper advertises for 'test subjects' to be sent to an isolated island, cut off from society and technology for six weeks, as part of an experiment. Rachel signs the Glee club up for it.  
**Notes: **Pretty much every review I've seen has something along the lines of "More?" or "Next chapter?" and I'm a little concerned that if I rush this it'll be awful. Also, please take into account that I'm studying for exams until the summer. I'll update when I can.

Rachel awoke to a crashing sound.

She sat bolt upright, a little dizzy from the sudden movement and head pounding slightly. Her blurry eyes scanned the cabin for the source of the noise, and her gaze fixed itself on an apologetic-looking Quinn.

"Oh," Rachel said, sighing and lying back in her bed. "It's just you."

"Who were you expecting?" Quinn asked, picking her hairbrushes up from their scattered positions on the floor.

"I don't know. Maybe a mass murderer, or a wolf. Or Finn." Rachel replied, sleepily.

Quinn let out a musical laugh, brushing her hair in the mirror on the cabin's wall.

"I can assure you I'm not a mass murderer, or a wolf. And I'm most definitely not Finn. Although," Quinn stated, gesturing to the door. "He did come by about twenty minutes ago. I told him not to wake you, but it looks as if I did a good job of that myself."

"Why was he looking for me?" Rachel blurted out.

"Something to do with a thing he and Sam organized. I wasn't really listening."

A few minutes passed, wherein Quinn hummed a tune while she continued to brush her hair, and Rachel's thoughts were racing.

She was struggling to put the pieces of the previous night together. Had she imagined Quinn climbing into her bed, and reciting a Great Expectations quote to her? Was Rachel having crazy, Charles Dickens-inspired dreams?

Rachel's eyes moved to Quinn's bed, which didn't look as if it had been slept in at all.

"Quinn?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you.. Last night, I mean.. Did.."

"Did I sleep in your bed?"

"Well, yes."

"I did, yeah."

"Oh."

"Is that a problem?" Quinn asked innocently, turning around to face Rachel with a curious look on her face.

Rachel suddenly got the feeling that Quinn had reverted back to her old self. The closed off Quinn who refused to share anything with anybody. She hoped she'd never have to see that Quinn again. Although Rachel prided herself on the fact she was always able to find a tiny piece of light in the darkness Quinn pushed herself into.

"Not at all."

She climbed out of her small bed, crossed the room and knelt down by her suitcase. They still needed to unpack, she realized, and her over-organized self was itching to climb out. A knock at the door distracted her, and she sat still for a minute.

"Raaaach? It's Sam and Finn." Came a voice from the other side of the door. Rachel pushed herself up off the floor, took a few steps forward and wrenched open the thin wooden door.

"Hello, Finn, Sam." Rachel smiled politely. Both of the boys smiled and gave each other a nervous glance.

_Stay polite, Rachel._ She reminded herself._ Just because you don't exactly want Finn here doesn't mean you have to say that._

"Finn," Rachel started. "As you can see, Quinn and I haven't long woken up, and as much as your company is enjoyed.. We'll be out soon and you can see us then, if there was nothing -"

"There was something." Sam said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Finn continued. "Sam and I just finished talking to Santana and Brittany, and we organized a barbecue celebration for tonight. You know, cause everybody was too tired last night. And we thought everyone could bring a date."

Rachel froze. She'd been dreading this moment. _Just turn him down nicely. He'll understand, say you're sick or tired or -_

"So, I was wondering if you'd be my date, and Sam was wondering if Quinn would be his." Sam nodded, blushing when he spotted Quinn. Rachel knew this was her moment, she opened her mouth to politely decline -

"I'd love to!" Called out a soft voice behind her. Rachel whipped around to see Quinn walking towards the door, eyes locked on Sam's.

"That's awesome," Finn said, slapping Sam lightly on the shoulder. Sam seemed too drunk on happiness to respond, instead he just grinned.

"Rachel?" Finn asked. She hesitated, side-eyeing Quinn who was still making it her life's mission to avoid contact with Rachel's brown eyes. _Two can play at this game, Fabray._

"Sure." Rachel answered, smiling. In the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Quinn's smile drop for a split second.

"Great!" Finn grinned. "See you tonight." Rachel closed the door behind them, and Quinn went back to the dresser, continuing brushing her hair. It was like that conversation never even happened. Well, if Rachel had committed to playing this game, she wasn't going to give up that easily. She dropped down on her bed, yawning.

"What do you want to do today, Quinn?"

Quinn turned around. "We're spending the day together...?"

"Well, thinking back to the conversation we all shared in the airport's diner, Brittany and Santana said they were looking forward to tanning and finding animals. So Brittany will be in the jungle-like area while Santana follows her around wearing very little sunblock. Sam said he wanted to find fish in the sea, and Finn usually follows him around, so they'll be together. That leaves me and you. Unless you'd rather be alone -"

"Okay, Sherlock." Quinn held up a hand. "We'll spend the day together. But as you clearly know, I want to take pictures. So we're going exploring in the jungle."

"Fine by me."

–

After the two of them had gotten ready, they left their cabin and headed across the beach. On their way, they passed Sam and Finn, who were preparing to scuba dive in the ocean. The boys waved, and as soon as Rachel had seen Quinn send a flirty wave Sam's way, she mimicked the action to Finn. Rachel had bought the Island's information pack along with them. It contained a map as well as everything else.

When they reached the jungle's entrance, Rachel pointed to a paragraph on the laminated page.

"Quinn! It says that the jungle has some parts in there that have been decorated." She frowned. "What does that mean?"

"I guess we'll find out."

They walked for about thirty minutes, stopping every few feet so Quinn could snap a picture of an exotic insect or interesting landscape. Rachel hummed music under her breath, and they eventually walked so deep into the jungle, they couldn't figure out where they were on the map anymore.

"We just walked in a straight line, right?" Quinn asked.

"No, we turned about six times. I just can't remember when and where."

Quinn shrugged. "It'll be fine. I mean, this jungle isn't even that big. Whichever direction we walk in, we'll be back on the beach in an hour tops." Rachel was slightly put off by Quinn's laid back attitude, but she soon realized this Quinn was a whole lot better than the closed-off Quinn.

They'd been walking in content silence for about ten minutes, when their walking slowed down and Quinn spoke up. "Thank you for inviting me here." Rachel was a little stunned.

"I.. You're welcome, Quinn."

"I think I really needed this."

The smile that overtook Rachel's face was one she hadn't felt for a while. Quinn turned around.

"Jesus, Rachel. There's no need to be so happy."

"Yes there is. We're finally making amends, just like I wanted to."

Rachel thought she saw a flicker of a smile cross Quinn's face. She didn't have time to think about it, because Quinn pointed in front of them and yelled, "Oh my God!"

Rachel jumped about three feet in the air, bracing herself for a bear attack or maybe even a crazy island refugee with a spear gun. What she saw when she followed Quinn's line of vision wasn't anything remotely scary, but insanely beautiful.

It was a small stream, probably deeper than it looked but not very wide, and an arched wooden bridge spread over the top of it. The sides of the bridge were decorated with twisted branches with fairy lights woven in between. Quinn couldn't take enough pictures on her camera, and Rachel was grinning like a maniac.

In sync, the two of them walked over to the bridge together, and sat down on it. They turned to look at each other, smiling, and Rachel's heart was beating so loudly she thought Quinn might hear it. Her lips were inches from Quinn's, and she didn't know where the urge to kiss her was coming from, but it was definitely there.

"Thank you," Quinn whispered. "For finding this with me. It's amazing."

Rachel couldn't find it in her to respond.

"It should be our place." Quinn finished.

"What?" Oh, there was her voice.

"We found it. We're probably the first people to find it. This should be our special place while we're here."

After a few minutes, they climbed off the bridge, and Rachel knelt down beside the flowing water.

"I want to swim in it." Quinn said.

"It isn't safe!" Rachel almost yelled.

"Of course it is. It just leads straight back to the sea, right?"

"No, if you look on the map, it's a full circle all the way back to here. It goes around the inside of the jungle."

"I still want to swim in it."

Quinn pulled her camera bag off her shoulder, pulling her shirt off with it, and shorts and shoes, until she was left standing before Rachel in a bikini. Rachel barely had time to protest before Quinn had jumped over her and into the water. When she finally surfaced, she yelled,

"Holy shit! That's COLD!"

"What happened to Christian Quinn? You curse now?"

"Get in here!"

Rachel obeyed, pulling off her own clothes and jumping in bikini-clad. It was cold indeed, and she bit her tongue to stop herself cursing. She opened her mouth to comment on how awesome it was, when Quinn splashed her in the face with the water.

"_Quinn!_"

"Rachel!" Quinn laughed.

"No, seriously, Quinn -"

"Oh, come on."

"Quinn, something's wrong."

They both looked across to their piles of clothes and camera bags, to see that they were moving farther and farther away. Faster than they expected.

"Oh, shit." Rachel said.

"You curse now?" Quinn said in a mock imitation of Rachel's earlier comment.

"Quinn, this isn't funny."

"It's fine. We'll go in a full circle back to our stuff, like the lazy river ride at the water park. Just faster."

They'd been floating – pretty fast – down the stream for about fifteen minutes, admiring the scenic views they were speeding past, until the movement of the water slowed down and something thick and slimy was clouding around their legs.

"Ewww!" Quinn shouted, pulling herself up the muddy bank and pulling Rachel up after her.

_Moses bless her cheerleader's arms,_ Rachel thought.

The two of them inspected whatever had freaked them out, and noticed that a rapidly-drying mud or clay substance was covering their feet all the way up to their ribs.

"Oh, it _stinks_." Quinn said, wrinkling her nose. "Let's get out of here."

They walked barefoot across the muddy earth, realizing that they'd left Rachel's map back with their stuff on the other side of the jungle. Rachel was panicking, and she wouldn't stop stressing over how they'd probably be lost forever and Finn or Sam or Brittany or Santana wouldn't be able to find them.

Quinn turned around, grabbed Rachel by the shoulders and told her to calm down. She walked backwards about two steps, and had a millisecond to shoot Rachel a panicked look before they both plummeted down a steep hill. They both screamed, rolling over and sliding down wet mud until they hit soft ground at the bottom.

It took a moment for both of them to regain their breath having been winded by the fall. The two of them had honestly seen their lives flash before their eyes. As soon as they sat up, their eyes met.

And so did their lips.

It was a messy kiss. Sloppy. Badly aimed. Desperate. And it only lasted about six seconds before they broke away and burst into hysterical laughter.

That was short lived, too, for as soon as they started to laugh a voice called out from behind them.

"Holy SHIT!"

They whipped around to see Santana and Brittany, standing five feet away and carrying nets, boxes, and Quinn's camera case.

"I didn't know you two were together," Brittany said. "Congrats, guys!"

"I.. We're not!" Quinn yelled, moving away from Rachel as if she were the plague.

"Then what in the seven hells was that?" Santana asked, eyebrows raised.

"It was nothing... We just..." Rachel struggled for words. "Please don't tell anybody."

Santana smirked. "Your secrets safe with me, girls. I'm still kind of shocked, though."

"Totally. San and I had a bet on it. You owe me three dollars, San."

"Why do you have my camera bag?" Quinn asked, ignoring Brittany.

"We found it up the hill when we were looking for animals. Here." She tossed it to Quinn who caught it in one perfect hand.

"Are you coming back, now? We're really close to the beach." Brittany gestured behind them.

–

The last few hours of the day were spent getting ready in their cabins. Finn and Sam were outside in the sunset, setting the barbecue up. All of the girls were in their respective rooms.

Quinn and Rachel hadn't talked about their kiss. But at least, Rachel told herself, she knew she hadn't imagined the whole sleeping in the same bed scenario. That didn't make the situation any less confusing to her.

Once they'd gotten ready in silence, Finn and Sam knocked on the door to escort them across the beach. It seemed the game they'd started that morning was still ongoing. Quinn flashed Sam a movie star smile, flirting and ignoring Rachel completely.

Rachel used the same meaningless tricks on Finn, feeling sick to her stomach whenever he had his arm around her. She had eyes only for Quinn.

Brittany and Santana were keeping their secret safe, as promised, but that didn't stop them throwing concerned glances their way every few minutes.

After everybody had eaten, Sam pulled out his CD player and added some music to the scene. The couples broke off to dance, and in the short time Rachel and Finn were apart while he got a drink, Rachel saw the unthinkable.

Quinn and Sam were inches from one another, Sam whispering in her ear and Quinn giggling. Before Rachel tore her eyes away, she saw them kiss. And it felt like a punch to the stomach.

Rachel stood rooted to the spot, tears spilling from her eyes and mouth wide open. Finn came up beside her.

"Rachel? What's -"

"Finn, please.. Just leave me alone." Her voice has gone almost as weak as her knees.

She ran back across the beach and into the cabin, slamming the door behind her and making her way to her bed.

An hour later, she was awoken by a figure shaking her gently. "Rachel, wake up."

"Quinn?"

"Yes. Why did you leave?"

"Quinn.. Leave me alone. I'm tired."

"You're not tired. And you sound like you've been crying -"

"Of_ course_ I've been crying, Quinn!" Rachel yelled. She didn't know where this voice had come from. She sat up. "You kissed him! You kissed Sam after you kissed me!"

"Keep your voice do-"

"Do NOT tell me what to do, Quinn Fabray. I am so sick of this, why can't you just talk to me? I don't understand!"

Rachel's next argument was cut off by a kiss. It was deeper than the one they'd shared in the jungle. It meant something. To Rachel, at least, it meant something.


End file.
